


And brother, if you have the chance to pick me up can I sleep on your couch?

by seekingsquake



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Discord: Umino Hours, Found Family, Gen, Supernatural Elements, Umino Hours Discord Server 90 Minutes To Gift Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27313351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingsquake/pseuds/seekingsquake
Summary: Iruka wakes up in a cold sweat at 3 AM. He listens, staring up at the ceiling and extending his senses, but he can’t pinpoint what woke him. And then he smells... cigarette smoke?Iruka spends time with both of his brothers on Halloween night.
Relationships: Sarutobi Asuma & Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 18
Kudos: 49
Collections: 90 Mins To Gift - Halloween Edition





	And brother, if you have the chance to pick me up can I sleep on your couch?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [enby0angel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/enby0angel/gifts).



> Written for enby for the 90 minutes Halloween gift exchange! 
> 
> The keyword was protection, the colour was turquoise, and the prompt was, of course, Halloween. 
> 
> The title is a line from Gerard Way's song, Brother.

_Iruka drops down from the tree branch he was staked out on and lands on Asuma’s shoulders, cackling. Asuma collapses under the sudden attack, hitting the ground and rolling until he gets Iruka pinned. “Brat,” he mutters, but the scowl he’s trying to put on wavers until it cracks into a grin. “What are you wearing?”_

_“I’m the Hokage, duh!” Iruka scrambles out from under Asuma and stands with a flourish. He’s pilfered one of Sandaime’s robe sets and made himself a replica hat out of cardboard and leftover fabric the tailor gave him the other day. Everything is way too big on him; he’s practically disappearing into the outfit. He whips a pipe out of one of the sleeves, pops it in his mouth, and then puts on an exaggerated expression of contemplation. “What do you think?” He has scrapes on his chin and one of his cheeks._

_Asuma laughs. He swipes the hat off Iruka’s head and puts it on, then ruffles Iruka’s hair. “You’re a nerd, is what I think. Have you shown Sandaime-sama yet?”_

_“No, I wanted you to see it first!”_

_“Why?”_

_Iruka pauses, then blushes and looks away. He’s only just started really coming out of his shell around Asuma, after a year or so of hanging around the Hokage’s office all the time. He doesn’t want to push his luck, but... “I wanted to see if I could make nii-san laugh.”_

_Asuma stares at him for a long moment and then tugs Iruka against his side. “Let’s go show the Hokage,” he murmurs, gruff. He won’t look at Iruka, but when the younger boy goes to put some distance between them, Asuma doesn’t let him go._

🌕

Iruka eases the apartment door open slowly, careful not to jostle Naruto where he’s draped over Iruka’s back in a candy coma. It’s later than Iruka usually lets Naruto stay up, but it’s a special occasion, and a Saturday to boot, so he figures he can let it go this time. When he had gone by the Inuzuka compound to pick Naruto up, all the kids were still in the midst of their sugar-highs, and Naruto had dyed his lips and tongue turquoise from eating hard candies shaped like fish. Naruto started flagging on the walk home, though; half-way down the street, he fell asleep while walking. 

Naruto hasn’t let Iruka carry him on his back like this for a few years now, so he’s feeling a little bit weepy when he finally gets them home. 

He slips off his sandals before tiptoeing into Naruto’s room and gently tucking him into bed. He should wake Naruto up to brush his teeth and get into his PJs, but he doesn’t want Naruto to wake up and then be unable to fall back asleep.

It’s Halloween. One night of breaking the house rules won’t kill them.

Once Naruto is settled, Iruka gets himself ready for bed. He’s exhausted; he spent the whole day feeling nostalgic and a little bit sad while Naruto was off with his friends. He’s ready to sleep off the melancholy feeling that’s wrapped around him and wake up in a better mood.

🌕

Iruka wakes up in a cold sweat at 3 AM. He listens, staring up at the ceiling and extending his senses, but he can’t pinpoint what woke him. And then he smells... cigarette smoke?

He gets up. He grabs a sweater and throws it on, then grabs a kunai and creeps out of his room. In the hallway, he still can’t sense anything. He pokes his head in Naruto’s doorway, but nothing is amiss there, so he continues down the hall towards the living room and stops abruptly. 

Someone is sitting on his couch, smoke curling around their head. Iruka creeps forward, readying himself to attack, but a voice stops him dead in his tracks. “It’s just me, Ruka, stand down.”

Instead of putting Iruka at ease, the words spark both fear and anger. He lets the kunai sail straight and true at the back of the intruder’s head, but instead of landing it just—

It passes through his head and stabs into the wall. Iruka stares, wide-eyed and trembling, and Asuma turns to look at him. “Is that any way to treat your big brother?”

“You’re dead,” Iruka whispers. Now that he’s looking more closely, he can see that the edges of Asuma’s silhouette are blurry, almost transparent. The moonlight shines through him, and he isn’t casting a shadow. “How—?”

“Come sit?”

Iruka doesn’t know if he wants to, but he does as he’s told. Ever since he was 10 years old, lonely and hurting and orphaned, he’s listened to Asuma. He crosses the floor and sits on the couch beside the man that had, over time, adopted him as a brother— sits beside his brother, who went on a mission five years ago and never made it home. 

There’s enough space between them that another person could sit comfortably. Iruka stares at the place where his kunai is standing in the wall and tries to ignore the goosebumps breaking out over his skin. He’s dreaming. He must be dreaming. There’s no other explanation for—

“You used to love Halloween, remember?” Asuma murmurs around his cigarette. His eyes look like there are spotlights behind them, bright white light. He’s hard to look at. 

Tears prick at the corner of Iruka’s eyes, and he chokes back the urge to sob. “Yeah.” His voice cracks on his reply, and he slams his hands over his face. 

It feels like ice where Asuma drops his hand on Iruka’s shoulder. He tugs Iruka to lean against his side, like when they were kids, and everywhere they touch is cold. Iruka’s body shakes. Asuma sighs and the sorrow that has been seeping out of Iruka all day seems to increase tenfold. It’s unbearable, the emotion all-engulfing, and then Asuma grunts and everything eases up a bit. “I missed you,” he says, sounding gruff and Iruka just grimaces.

“Is that why you’re... here?”

“Not quite.” He nudges Iruka and doesn’t speak again until Iruka looks at him fully. “I need to tell you something. And I need you to really listen to me, okay?”

Iruka nods.

They just look at each other, sadness and affection and regret passing between them and wrapping them up together like bandages. Asuma grabs Iruka by the back of the head and presses their foreheads together. The light from Asuma’s eyes is too bright to bear, so Iruka squeezes his eyes shut. “I’m with you,” Asuma whispers. “I’m proud of you. Stop feeling like you replaced me.”

Iruka jerks, tries to scramble away, but Asuma’s frigid hand is steady and firm, so he can’t go anywhere. 

“I had two sisters,” Asuma continues, and Iruka can hear his smile. “I’m happy to have two brothers, as well.”

It’s too much. Iruka can’t help the tight feeling in his chest, and he gasps for air. His hand comes up and wraps around Asuma’s forearm, and he keeps gasping, and tears roll down his cheeks. “I was so—”

Asuma says, “I know,” as if he’d been able to see Iruka the whole time, as if he really does know how Iruka’s struggled. Asuma died, and then Naruto was there, and Iruka hasn’t ever been able to silence the guilt that came with that. “You’re doing the right thing, Ruka. He needs you. He needed protection, and you’re giving him that. You need to stop feeling like you’re betraying me because you aren’t.”

Iruka hiccups then squeezes Asuma’s arm. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

They don’t say anything else, and Iruka doesn’t know how much time passes with them sitting like that, forehead to forehead. Eventually, Asuma murmurs, “He reminds me of you. Give him an extra noogie from me, okay? I’ve got you, little brother. Always.” 

And when Iruka looks up, Asuma is gone. A curl of smoke catches the moonlight as it shimmers and dissipates, and Iruka closes his eyes and breathes. For the first time in five years, he feels peace.

🌕

Sunlight is filtering into the room when Iruka hears the pattering of footsteps and then Naruto’s booming voice. “Nii-san!” he shrieks at top volume, “Can we put M&M’s in pancakes? Can we can we can we?”

Iruka scrubs his hands over his face and then rolls off the couch, catching Naruto around the waist and giving him a hard noogie. “Ow ow ow ow!” Naruto shrills, squirming. “What was that for, huh?”

“Because I love you,” Iruka says matter of factly, and Naruto stills in his arms. “You want candy in your pancakes today? Maybe we can make that work. Come on, little brother, you’re going to have to help me.”

When Naruto beams at him, Iruka almost thinks he feels another hand, huge and firm, on his shoulder. All he can do is beam back.

**Author's Note:**

> The timeline of this piece is a little bit funky. I'm pretending that Asuma passed away on a random mission before canon begins, and Iruka became more involved in Naruto's life earlier on.


End file.
